Lara Ameri is an associate in the intellectual property litigation group. Lara has a wide-ranging IP litigation practice that includes patent, copyright, trademark, false advertising, and trade secret matters across a variety of fields including wireless technology and telecommunications, e-commerce, software, retail, and data storage. Lara has experience in district court litigation from pre-suit analysis through trial preparation, including drafting pleadings, summary judgment motions, and briefs, preparing for fact and expert witness depositions, and assisting with damages assessments. Lara also has an active pro bono practice in which she works with clients to obtain asylum. 

David Armendariz practices trademark and copyright law with a primary focus on litigation and policing. David represents clients in contentious matters before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and federal courts throughout the country. His experience includes four years with Vinson & Elkins LLP. Before entering private practice, David served as a law clerk to the Honorable Debra H. Lehrmann on the Supreme Court of Texas. David earned his J.D. with High Honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where he was a Chancellor. David also served as Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Peter Brody has been successfully litigating intellectual property cases and other complex disputes in federal and state courts across the United States for over 30 years. A member and former chair of Ropes & Gray’s intellectual property litigation group, Peter has litigated every type of IP case –patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, and false advertising - as well as a wide range of constitutional, administrative, and contract disputes. Peter also has substantial experience in alcoholic beverage laws and regulations. In addition to his trial and appellate practice, Peter has served as lead counsel in numerous domestic and international arbitrations, as well as hearings and proceedings before federal and state administrative agencies. Peter’s broad-based litigation experience enables him to see the big picture and to present complicated and technical matters in a clear and easy to understand manner.

Jon Jekel is an attorney with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and author in California, where he advises clients on a wide variety of domestic and international copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent, data privacy, and business-related matters. In his free time, he writes science fiction, practices yoga, rides a Peloton, kayaks around San Diego, builds furniture, and collect LPs.

Alex Lodge (he/him/his) is a Louisiana native, but he has made the Midwest his home. After finishing his degree in Chemistry at Grambling State University, Alex moved to Iowa to pursue a doctorate in Organic Chemistry. After finishing his doctorate, Alex pursued a law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law. Alex is currently IP Counsel with Cargill, Inc. His experience includes patent procurement, handling both U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, assessing risk mitigation through freedom-to-operate and invalidity opinions and IP patent portfolio management. Alex enjoys music, family, friends, reading, and being engaged in the community. Alex is actively involved as a mentor, the Kappa Alpha Psi Guide Right Program, and leads pro bono efforts related to conviction expungement, arrest record correction, and pardons in the Greater Madison, Wisconsin area. Alex is a recipient of the State Bar of Wisconsin Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award, Urban League of Greater Madison Rising Star Award, and Wisconsin Law Journal’s Up and Coming Lawyer Award.

Denise A. Robinson (she/her) is a diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) and well-being consultant, yoga teacher, and former practicing labor & employment attorney. Through her consultancy, The Still Center LLC, Denise performs cultural assessments, provides strategic advice, and delivers training on DEI, well-being, and other talent development topics. In addition, she has directed benchmarking surveys and other think tank projects to advance DEI in the workplace. Before starting her consultancy, Denise served as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion for O’Melveny & Myers LLP and subsequently, the Diversity Officer for the International Monetary Fund. Denise has been teaching yoga asana and meditation classes for over a decade and applies her knowledge and experience with these contemplative practices to her DEI work. Denise earned her undergraduate degree in philosophy from Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College, and she is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as the chapter president of the Black Law Students Association and a student advocate in the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic. 

Sanjiv Sarwate is Senior Legal Director - Trademarks with Dell Technologies and has been with Dell since April 2011. Before that, he was in private practice in Chicago specializing in trademark and copyright law. He is the primary attorney with responsibility over trademarks at Dell, with an emphasis on anticounterfeiting and online trademark enforcement. He is a frequent speaker on trademark issues, including before the US Patent and Trademark Office, the European Intellectual Property Office, and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, as well as a past chair and current member of IPO’s Anti-Counterfeiting Committee. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a masters’ degree from the University of Chicago.  

Dr. Antje Brambrink is an attorney-at-law (Counsel) at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner in Munich. As patent litigator Antje advises and represents clients in complex, often cross-border patent disputes. She regularly acts before all German patent courts, including infringement, inspection, compulsory license and nullity proceedings at the Federal Patent Court and the Federal Supreme Court. Her expertise covers a wide range of industries and technologies, including high-tech, renewable energies and in particular life sciences, where she benefits from her dual qualification as dentist with a Ph.D. in pharmacology.

Jakob Kellenberger is a Senior Director and Associate General Counsel for Procter & Gamble in Belgium. In this position, Mr. Kellenberger is responsible for P&G’s Global Home Care- and European Fabric Care-IP. He oversees a group of Patent Professionals located in P&G’s Newcastle, Schwalbach and Brussels Innovation Centers and advises Procter & Gamble’s senior management on intellectual property issues. Mr. Kellenberger has authored numerous P&G patents and patent applications, has led a number of oppositions/appeals and hearings in the EPO, has been involved in license agreements, acquisitions and divestitures, in mediation and in IP litigation. Mr. Kellenberger holds a MSc with a focus on Molecular Biology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidg. Tech. Hochschule - ETH) in Zürich and a Postgraduate degree in IP law from the same school. He is a Qualified Representative before the EPO, and has over 25 years of experience in IP.

Leo Steenbeek (LLM, MSc) is Principal IP Counsel at Philips, and is registered as a European and Dutch patent attorney. 

Karen Cochran is the chief IP counsel at Shell, leading the company’s global IP department in support of IP strategies and related licensing activities. Karen began her career as a chemist at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, and Merck Pharmaceuticals. Following law school, she reentered the pharmaceutical industry as a patent attorney and later joined AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Karen assumed roles of increasing responsibility while with AstraZeneca, including head of Neuroscience IP, leading a global team from the company’s Swedish offices. Karen subsequently joined DuPont in 2012 where she led both IP and commercial legal teams prior to becoming DuPont’s chief IP counsel and head of IP Litigation. She is a member of IPO’s Board of Directors, serving as president. Karen has also served on the board of Association for Women in Science (AWIS), an organization committed to the advancement of women in STEM.

As Buchanan’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Lloyd Freeman is responsible for advancing and expanding diversity throughout the firm and across the legal industry as a whole. Lloyd develops and drives the firm’s diversity initiatives related to attorney hiring, retention and advancement. He oversees the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and promotes equitable policies, mentorship and sponsorship as key retention initiatives.  Through the use of data & analytics, Lloyd identifies potential risk areas and centers intentionality and accountability to drive meaningful impact.  Lloyd also works to ensure that the firm continues to be a driver of diversity and inclusion in the communities in which it serves. Some of these initiatives include the firm's supplier diversity program, corporate share program as well as key partnerships with local nonprofits dedicated to promoting all dimensions of diversity.  Additionally, he collaborates with Buchanan’s clients to meet and advance their diversity and inclusion goals and coordinates partnerships for mutually-beneficial programs such as internships, thought leadership, speaking engagements and more. Lloyd is also involved in nurturing key partnerships to drive strategic diversity and inclusion marketing, as well as business development initiatives.  

Kaveh Rashidi-Yazd is Vice President and Chief Counsel for Digital, Innovation, IP, and Technology for Eaton Corporation. He currently leads the legal teams associated with IP, cybersecurity, data protection and privacy, and digital.  In his career, he has counseled on all aspects of IP, with expertise in developing strategies and focusing on protection, defense, exploitation, and transactional activities.  Before joining Eaton, he was Head of the U.S. IP Department and Division IP Counsel at Siemens Energy, and before going in-house, Kaveh was a senior associate in the IP practice group of Troutman Sanders, LLP (n/k/a Troutman Pepper).  Kaveh earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, and his Juris Doctorate from the Franklin Pierce Law Center (n/k/a University of New Hampshire School of Law).  Within IPO, he is now a member of the Board of Directors, and a former Co-Chair of the Leadership Development Committee (2020-2022) and former Chair of the U.S. Patent Office Practice Committee (2014-2019). 

Richard Watkins is a senior principal legal counsel at Medtronic and has practiced IP Law for 20 years. He holds a BS in Chemistry from Morehouse College and a law degree from Georgetown University. Prior to Medtronic, Richard spent time in private practice and corporate in house positions in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Memphis. He has been active in the IPO Diversity and Inclusion committee and is currently serving as the Co-Chair of the Black IP Professionals in IPO.

Joshua Goldberg, leader of Finnegan’s PTAB trials section, focuses on inter partes review (IPR), covered business method (CBM), and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and on ensuing appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Sydney Kestle focuses on several areas of patent law, including pre-litigation due diligence, client counseling, litigation in U.S. district courts, and proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Her patent practice covers several technology sectors in the mechanical and electrical arts, including industrial manufacturing, medical devices, and wireless communications and related consumer products. 

Gracie Mills is an associate with Finnegan where she focuses her practice on patent litigation before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), federal district courts, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Before the PTAB, she has experience representing both petitioners and patent owners, and she regularly navigates issues specific to the interplay between PTAB and federal district court litigation.

Trenton Ward is a partner and patent litigator at Finnegan. Ward joined Finnegan in 2017 from the PTAB where he spent three years as a Lead Administrative Patent Judge. He served on panels for more than 275 Decisions on Institution and Final Written Decisions, authoring many. Trenton assisted the Chief Judge in formulating and executing policy for AIA trials and PTAB operations. Earlier he worked as an electrical engineer. 

Tom Irving is a partner with Finnegan. He has more than 40 years of experience in the field of intellectual property law. His practice includes America Invents Act (AIA) post-grant proceedings, due diligence, counseling, patent prosecution, and reissue and reexamination. He counsels clients on a wide range of mainly pharmaceutical matters, including pre-litigation, Orange Book listings of patents covering FDA-approved drugs, infringement issues, enforceability and validity analysis.

Paul Berghoff, founder of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert Berghoff LLP, has three decades of experience as lead trial counsel in complex patent litigation – both jury and bench trials and PTAB proceedings – concentrating in litigation involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, electronics, and software. He has successfully tried scores of patent cases and has successfully argued dozens of times before he US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He services as Chair of the firm’s Litigation & Appeals Practice Group.  He is Vice-Chair of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Greg Castanias is a partner at Jones Day in Washington, DC. He is head of the firm’s Federal Circuit team and has almost 30 years’ experience as a leading appellate and intellectual property litigator. His experience includes five US Supreme Court arguments, 70+ Federal Circuit arguments, and countless others in federal and state courts across the nation, from Alaska to Connecticut. His intellectual property experience includes such diverse technologies as genetics, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics, and mechanical fields, as well as copyright, trademark, and trade secret disputes. He is Vice-Chair of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Wendy Larson practices trademark law with a focus on litigation. She focuses specifically on issues relating to the internet, including cybersquatting and brand protection challenges involving social media platforms and smartphone applications, keyword advertising, service provider liability, and personal jurisdiction relating to foreign online actors. She practices in federal court, before the Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and with dispute resolution service providers such as the Forum and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) handling domain name disputes under ICANN’s domain name dispute resolution policies. Wendy also assists clients in a variety of prosecution and other litigation matters. Wendy is a member of IPO’s Amicus Brief Committee.

Brad Forrest is the Chairman and General Counsel for Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. He enjoys connecting with inventors and discussing complex technologies and sharing in inventors’ passion for their inventions. Brad also drafts and prosecutes patent applications in diverse technologies, including cloud-based computing, AI and machine learning, nanotechnology, apps, applications, operating systems, disk drives, memories, optical networks, optical ring resonators, WiFi, semiconductor, CVD Diamond, and many other technologies. Prior to becoming a patent attorney, Brad worked part-time for Honeywell International, Inc. creating computer simulations while obtaining EE and Law Degrees from the University of Minnesota. From 1984-1993, Brad worked at IBM in Rochester, Minnesota, as Counsel and Manager of the Intellectual Property Law Department, identifying several key inventions and wrote many important patents, including the RAID V patent, magneto-optic recording patents, operating system patents, distributed computing patents, networking patents, and basic patents covering server driven work processing, known as IPC. From 1994-1995, Brad was a Division Counsel and the Copyright and Trademark Counsel for IBM in New York.

Kasie Grover has been a paralegal at Schwegman since 2015, assisting with PCT and USPTO filings. During her time at Schwegman, Kasie’s work has predominantly included working with clients outside of the United States to obtain U.S. patents. She also serves on University client teams, and teams relating to pharmaceutical drugs, mechanical engineering and software. Prior to starting as a paralegal at Schwegman, Kasie was a case manager for two years, where she served on many of the same client teams.

Richard Seidel is the Deputy Commissioner for Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. During the past 25 years, Mr. Seidel has held a variety of management and leadership positions at the USPTO.  Currently, as Deputy Commissioner for Patents, he provides executive oversight over patent-examining functions in Technology Centers 1700 and 2800. These technologies include chemical and material engineering, semiconductors, memory, optical systems and components, photocopying, electrical circuits and system, printing, and measuring and testing.  Additionally, Mr. Seidel serves as the focal point for the newly created organizations of Information Technology for Patents (OITP) and Application Processing for Patents (OAPP). Mr. Seidel received his undergraduate degree in metallurgy from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Certificate in Advanced Public Management from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. 

Mehrdad Assadi - CTO at Patrix IP Helpware, providing highly configurable and adaptable IPM software solution and cost-effective Renewal and Annuity services to its global client base since the early 1990’s, with offices in US and Europe. After completing the Military Academy and graduating as Officer and end of cold war, Mehrdad decided to move over to the private sector to join Patrix at its inception.  Using his background in Computer Science to manage digitalization projects of national Trademark and Patent data, he has transitioned to developing Patrix software solution strategies over the last 20 years, focusing on providing versatile and open solutions to its customers.

Steven W. Lundberg is a registered patent attorney and a founding partner of Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. He works with entrepreneurs, Fortune 100 companies, and a wide range in between, providing practical legal counseling and time-tested IP strategies. Steve received his B.S.E.E. from the University of Minnesota, and his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law. He has published and spoken widely on software and electronic patent protection.

Thomas G. Marlow serves as CTO for Black Hills IP and President of Black Hills IP Renewals, managing the development of technical and process based solutions to improve the handling of intellectual property.  Mr. Marlow is a registered Patent Attorney with experience in both private practice prosecution and corporate in-house management.  Previously Thomas served as Director of Intellectual Property at Fairchild Semiconductor, managing worldwide product line and business unit patent strategy, enforcement, and procurement. Early career private practice patent work included prosecution and analysis of technologies in the electronic arts, including semiconductors, integrated circuit design and fabrication, wireless communications, and computer networks.

As a Client Relations Consultant, David Dilenschneider not only monitors the legal industry to identify trends and potential future developments but also consults with firms and corporations across the country to discuss their challenges and needs. David is a nationally-known speaker who has conducted over 2,800 presentations to over tens of thousands of attendees across the country – including presentations to almost every firm in the Am Law 100. David has also presented at programs offered by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has served as a speaker or moderator at prominent legal-education conferences, at bar association meetings, and at law schools. Internationally, David spoke on the topic of the Democratization of Knowledge and the Role of Electronic Legal Research at a conference held at the National Law University, Delhi (India). He also writes frequently about the utilization of electronic resources in the practice of law.

Ashita Doshi is an IP Counsel Leader at Thermo Fisher Scientific, specializing in strategic patent dispute resolution, risk management and prosecution, with a focus on AIA patent challenges at the PTAB.  Ashita obtained a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Tufts University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.  She has successfully challenged about 20 patents asserted in four litigations through inter partes and ex parte reexamination, and five patents asserted in three litigations through inter partes review.  She has extensive in-house experience in litigation support, freedom-to-operate analysis, strategic product design and clearance, patent drafting and prosecution.  Her prior law firm experience includes providing non-infringement and invalidity opinions, freedom-to-operate assessments and patent landscaping; drafting and prosecuting applications; and supporting interferences, oppositions and litigations.

Emily Johnson is Senior Counsel, IP Litigation at Amgen, one of the world’s most innovative biotechnology companies. Emily oversees Amgen’s U.S. and foreign patent litigations and post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and she provides counsel regarding Amgen’s intellectual property strategies.  Before joining Amgen, she represented clients in private practice, litigating nearly 100 intellectual property disputes in both judicial and administrative tribunals.  Emily had the privilege of clerking for the Honorable Arthur Gajarsa at the Federal Circuit.  Emily co-chairs the PTAB Committee of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and chairs the U.S. Post-Grant Patent Office Practice Committee of Intellectual Property Owners Association.

Phil Johnson is retired as Senior Vice President – Intellectual Property Policy & Strategy of Johnson & Johnson – Law Department. Prior to April of 2014, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel of Johnson & Johnson where he managed a worldwide group of about 270 IP professionals, of whom over 100 were patent and trademark attorneys. Before joining Johnson & Johnson in 2000, Phil was a senior partner and co-chair of IP litigation at Woodcock Washburn in Philadelphia. During his 27 years in private practice, Phil counseled independent inventors, startups, universities and businesses of all sizes in all aspects of intellectual property law. His diverse practice pertained to advances in a wide variety of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, consumer products, semi-conductor fabrication, automated manufacturing, materials and waste management. During his time in private practice, Phil served as trial counsel in countless IP disputes, including cases resolved by arbitration, bench trials, jury trials and appeals to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, many of which resulted in reported decisions.

Todd Walters is the Chair of the firm’s Patent Office Litigation practice and Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property section. He is a current Vice-Chair of the Post-Grant Practice Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), a past Chair of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Trial Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and a past Chair of the USPTO Post Grant and Inter Partes Practice Committee of the American Bar Association-Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) section. Todd was named the Best Lawyers ® 2020 Patent Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, D.C.